Queer Archives TT - Caribbean IRN Update July to December 2024

 

Queer Archives TT

The Queer Archives of Trinidad and Tobago is a project to develop a repository of Trinidad and Tobago's queer history.  The archives feature two collections  - The Cyrus Sylvester Digital Collection; and the Timeline of LGBTQI+ Westory.  The lead organisation is  CAISO: Sex & Gender Justice and there is an interdisciplinary project team

The archives were launched in October 2024 and will continue to grow.

Caribbean LGBTQI+ Citizenship and rights

•  Dr Nastassia Rambarran's PhD Thesis "A comparative analysis of Barbados and Guyana with respect to colonial legacies, transnational processes and decolonizing activities involved in queer activism " is available
•   In Haiti, Erasing 76 Crimes reports that evangelical Christians block protections of the rights of LGBTQ+ Haitians
• La Joven Cuba has a story "Travestismo-transformismo en Cuba: una historia intermitente" about the history of travestismo and transformismo in Cuba.
  
• Twinkle Paul presented to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights  on violence against transgender citizens in Guyana. The IAHCR had also hosted a Caribbean Dialogue Network discussion on the Rights of LGBTI+ persons in the Caribbean.
  
• In Martinique, Brice Armien-Boudré, co-president of the LGBT+ association Kap Caraïbe talked about the homophobic violence during the protests against rising cost of living.
• Guyana Chronicle reports on a Human Rights Day initiative by the Guyana Together Campaign  aimed at advocating for the repeal of laws against same-sex intimacy in Guyana. Guyana Together also joined with the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana to advocate for LGBT+ Inclusion on World Tourism Day.   
• Daryl Phillip, President of MiriDOM presented to the UPR Pre-session on rights in Dominica, noting that despite the repeal of the sodomy laws, LGBTQ citizens continue to face many challenges.
• The Tribune reports that the first Pride March was held in the Bahamas, with jeers from some onlookers.
  

 

Caribbean LGBTQI+ lives  

• In Jamaica, Equality for all  Foundation celebrated 25 years, and the launch of the 10th Issue of PrideJa magazine
  
• In Curaçao, Melinda Angel and Danika Marquez became the first same-sex couple to be married.
  
• Jamaican poet Staceyann Chin talks about returning to Jamaica and her project Kindred on the Rock 
• Michelle Lee-Ahye, Trinidad and Tobago's flag bearer at the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony talks about her marriage to Crystal Emmanuel-Ahye
  
• The Lest We Forget podcast has an episode on Homosexuality in the Jamaican Police Force. The Jamaican story Get Millie Black by Marlon James and playing on HBO includes gay police.
• Canadian drag queen and pop star Priyanka visits Guyana to explore his roots and help the queer community. Newsroom carries his story 
  
  
  

 Writing and expressions

• Preity R. Kumar launched her book 'An Ordinary Landscape of Violence: Women Loving Women in Guyana"
  
• Rajiv Mohabir and 17 other Indian diasporic writers collaborate on their anthology "I Will Not Go: Translations, Transformations, and Chutney Fractals"
  
• Nikolai S. Attai launched his book Defiant Bodies: Making Queer Community in the Anglophone Caribbean  in Guyana as part of SASOD's 21st Anniversary.
• Andil Gosine writes in Newsday to Colin Robinson, With Love
  
• sx salon 47 is dedicated to the Harold Sonny Laddoo(1945–1973) . The issue is guest edited by Andil Gosine and includes an essay about queer lives in Ladoo's work and a review of Defiant Bodies: Making Queer Community in the Anglophone Caribbean 
• CAISO : Sex and Justice held its 3rd Annual Art Exhibition in Trinidad and Tobago.

Best Wishes for safe and happy end of year and 2025.